The 44 projects cover the full spectrum of environmental science including geology, atmospheric science, biodiversity and ecology.
High risk, high reward research
The research will, for example:
- improve our understanding of volcanic activity such as eruptions and lava flows
- age the Earth’s solid inner core
- investigate historic mass extinction events
- predict future changes to carbon storage and biodiversity of the amazon rainforest
- study new microbes capable of consuming the powerful methane greenhouse gas
- establish which species are the most and least resilient to environmental changes
Lasting three to four years, the projects have received up to £1.3 million to conduct the research, which is a key part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) investment portfolio.
Tackling environmental challenges
Professor Sir Duncan Wingham, Executive Chair of NERC, said:
This investment supports researchers’ curiosity and imagination to enable discoveries that unlock new knowledge. The studies will tackle some the most critical unanswered questions about our planet.
By supporting high risk, high reward environmental science, we are harnessing the full power of the UK’s research and innovation system to tackle large-scale, complex challenges.
Further information
The projects include
Explosive-effusive volcanic eruption transitions caused by pyroclast sintering
Gateway to Research (GtR): Explosive-effusive volcanic eruption transitions caused by pyroclast sintering
Fabian Wadsworth, Durham University
£830,468
NERC-National Science Foundation Directorate for Geoscience community and structural collapse during mass extinctions (CASCaDE)
GtR: CASCaDE
Alexander Dunhill, University of Leeds
£730,589
On the edge?
GtR: On the edge?
Ian Main, University of Edinburgh
£799,940
Hydrothermal controls on caldera explosivity
Isobel Yeo, National Oceanography Centre
£990,558
Tracing volatile cycling during progressive subduction in the Mariana Forearc
GtR: Tracing volatile cycling during progressive subduction in the Mariana Forearc
Catriona Menzies, Durham University
£742,120
SCREED: Supergene enrichment of carbonatite rare earth elements deposits
GtR: SCREED
Martin Smith, University of Brighton
£799,992
Palaeomagnetic field behaviour in the Palaeozoic and the hunt for inner core birth
GtR: Palaeomagnetic field behaviour in the Palaeozoic and the hunt for inner core birth
Andrew Biggin, University of Liverpool
£802,901
Enabling CO2 mineralisation through pore to field-scale tracking of carbonate precipitation: INCLUSION
GtR: INCLUSION
Stuart Gilfillan, University of Edinburgh
£799,995
DV3M: Deforming Volcanoes with Dynamic Magma-Mush Models
GtR: DV3M
James Hickey, University of Exeter
£777,705
Magmatic volatiles in the fourth dimension
GtR: Magmatic volatiles in the fourth dimension
Margaret Hartley, The University of Manchester
£797,938
OceanBound
GtR: OceanBound
Christopher Hughes, University of Liverpool and Daniel Jones, NERC British Antarctic Survey
£863,794
FUTURE-FLOOD: New estimates of evolving UK flood risk for improved climate resilience
GtR: FUTURE-FLOOD
Elizabeth Kendon, University of Bristol
£798,313
Silicon CycLing IN Glaciated environments
Katharine Hendry, NERC British Antarctic Survey
£999,535
Greenland ice marginal lake evolution as a driver of ice sheet change – how important are rising lake temperatures?
David Rippin, University of York
£710,619
Humid heat extremes in the Global (sub)Tropics (H2X)
GtR: (H2X)
Cathryn Birch, University of Leeds and Christopher Taylor, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
£871,562
Enhanced carbon export driven by internal tides over the mid-Atlantic ridge
Jonathan Sharples, University of Liverpool, Joanne Hopkins, National Oceanography Centre, Alberto Naveira Garabato, University of Southampton, Alex Poulton, Heriot-Watt University
£1,325,572
A MISSING LINK between continental shelves and the deep sea: Addressing the overlooked role of land-detached submarine canyons
Mike Clare, National Oceanography Centre, Rob Hall, University of East Anglia
£902,207
Waves, levees and impact pressures in snow avalanches
GtR: Waves, levees and impact pressures in snow avalanches
Nico Gray, The University of Manchester
£564,284
Simulating UNder ice Shelf Extreme Topography (SUNSET)
GtR: SUNSET
John Taylor, University of Cambridge, Paul Holland, NERC British Antarctic Survey
£872,431
Mobile Observations and quantification of Methane Emissions to inform National Targeting, Upscaling and Mitigation (MOMENTUM)
GtR: MOMENTUM
David Lowry, Royal Holloway, University of London
£815,196
Investigating the potential for catastrophic collapse of Greenland’s ‘land’-terminating glacier margins
Peter Nienow, University of Edinburgh
£611,281
Towards Maximum Feasible Reduction in Aerosol Forcing Uncertainty (Aerosol-MFR)
GtR: Aerosol-MFR
Jill Johnson, University of Sheffield
£692,793
Next-generation modelling of glacial isostatic adjustment
GtR: Next-generation modelling of glacial isostatic adjustment
David Al-Attar, University of Cambridge
£449,140
RIFT-TIP: Rates of Ice Fracture and Timing of Tabular Iceberg Production
Oliver Marsh, NERC British Antarctic Survey
£1,093,961
Bridging theory to reality in projections of the Asian and West African monsoons (Bridge)
GtR: Bridge
Ruth Geen, University of Birmingham
£766,535
The end of the Amazon carbon sink? (AMSINK)
GtR: AMSINK
Oliver Phillips, University of Leeds
£799,835
Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) synthesis via a novel enzyme in cyanobacteria and diverse bacteria
GtR: DMSP synthesis via a novel enzyme in cyanobacteria and diverse bacteria
David John Lea-Smith, University of East Anglia
£606,000
Integrating and predicting responses of natural systems to disturbances
GtR: Integrating and predicting responses of natural systems to disturbances
Roberto Salguero-Gomez, University of Oxford
£799,513
Identifying novel microbial drivers to mitigate atmospheric methane emission
GtR: Identifying novel microbial drivers to mitigate atmospheric methane emission
Laura Lehtovirta-Morley, University of East Anglia
£565,406
Rainforest Fauna in the Anthropocene: an integrated approach to understanding impacts of climate and land use change (RAINFAUNA)
GtR: RAINFAUNA
Jos Barlow, Lancaster University
£799,960
Recovery pathways for lake ecosystems
GtR: Recovery pathways for lake ecosystems
Peter Langdon, University of Southampton
£799,839
Role specialization and plasticity at the origin of eusociality
GtR: Role specialization and plasticity at the origin of eusociality
Jeremy Field, University of Exeter
£526,150
Discovering the molecular basis for carbon storage in soil for food security and climate change mitigation
Ian Bull, University of Bristol
£799,329
Environmental and ecological drivers of tropical peatland methane dynamics across spatial scales
GtR: Environmental and ecological drivers of tropical peatland methane dynamics across spatial scales
Nicholas Girkin, Cranfield University
£766,062
Turbo-charging the mycorrhizosphere – Could more productive ecosystems threaten soil carbon stocks in boreal and sub-arctic zones of transition?
GtR: Turbo-charging the mycorrhizosphere
Philip Wookey, University of Stirling
£799,634
A novel testing paradigm to identify and manage multiple stressor impacts on wildlife
Frances Orton, University of the West of Scotland and Claus Svendsen, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
£859,965
What happens to the green stuff? Applying a novel zoogeochemical lens to ecosystem nutrient cycling
Kate Parr, University of Liverpool
£770,297
Mitigating Microbial Hazards – Eliminating harmful algal blooms s risks in salmon farms
GtR: Mitigating Microbial Hazards
Linda Lawton, The Robert Gordon University
£797,321
When does a supershedder become a superspreader?: The impact of individual-level heterogeneities on population-level transmission and spread
GtR: When does a supershedder become a superspreader?
Amy Pedersen, University of Edinburgh
798,990.00
The evolution of chalk sea ecosystems: biodiversity, resilience and ecological function in a warming world
GtR: The evolution of chalk sea ecosystems
Richard Twitchett, The Natural History Museum and Paul Bown, University College London
£799,297
Was a cold-blooded strategy key to crocodile survival across mass extinctions?
GtR: Was a cold-blooded strategy key to crocodile survival across mass extinctions?
Philip Mannion, University College London
£555,868
The role of structural variants in rapid adaptation
GtR: The role of structural variants in rapid adaptation
Laura Kelly, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
£790,303
A palaeontological solution to the origin of the vertebrate pectoral girdle
GtR: A palaeontological solution to the origin of the vertebrate pectoral girdle
Martin Brazeau, Imperial College London
£544,334
Why did we start Fermenting cereals? A molecular dissection of Ancient Bread and Beer making (FABB)
GtR: (FABB)
Mark Thomas, University College London
£639,908
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